The Importance of Your Love Story
Regardless of the details of your love story, and regardless of whether you think it’s amazing or not amazing, I believe your love story is important to embrace. In fact, if it isn’t already, it should become your favorite love story.
Let me ask you a question:
When was the last time (if ever) that you and your spouse talked about your personal love story together? I’m convinced that your story can become your favorite story…if it isn’t already. Why? Because your love story is real.
In 2008 Debbie and I began a journey of capturing every day, real-world love stories. We had just started our marriage ministry and wanted to create an event for married couples that would be different than the usual offerings in the world of marriage-related events. Our goal was to create an evening that would be more inspirational than instructional; more story driven than content driven; and focused on each individual couple rather than generalizations for the masses.
The result was an event we call Marriage Rocks. It highlights the unique love stories of 3 couples in 3 different stages of life. We capture them on video telling the truth about everything from how they met, to the most painful thing they’ve been through together. And throughout the evening we pause the video and give each couple in attendance the opportunity to privately discuss the same questions they just witnessed on the screen.
The goal of the evening is to guide couples on a journey of discovery – a journey that helps them remember important elements of their own unique story. Elements such as
how they met and fell in love
when they knew their spouse was “the one”
their engagement, wedding, and honeymoon
what they respect and appreciate most about each other
the toughest thing they’ve made it through together
how present and faithful God has been in their marriage
Without fail, each time we’ve hosted this event, couples have said how inspirational it was – the stories, the conversation, and the opportunity to reconnect with their spouse. By the end of the evening, couples are inspired to continue to live out their story.
Here’s My Point
I can tell you from experience (leading thousands of people through our Marriage Rocks experience) that there are immediate benefits to looking back and retracing the steps of your love story.
Here’s a peak at the first one…
You’ll become more fully committed to the rest of your story. When you reminisce about your own history together as a couple, you’ll become more aware of your future…which has yet to be written.
It reminds me of the ending of Back the Future III when Jennifer asks Doc why a note that she brought back from the future is now erased. Doc says to her,
Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one, both of you.
After all of Marty and Docs travels into the past, the trilogy ends with a thought-provoking insight about the future.
My point is this:
Your future is the most exciting part of your relationship
My hope is that as you look back, you’ll become more excited about your future together. You’ll become more aware of how much you’ve invested into your story, how faithful God has been, and You’ll say to yourselves,
“Hey, if we’ve made it this far and made it through this much…then our future is bright. Bring it on!”